Legacy Phuket Gazette

Archiving articles from the Phuket Gazette circa 1998 - 2017. View the Phuket Gazette online archive and Digital Gazette PDF Prints.
  • Thailand NewsPhuket Gazette Thailand News: B12bn credit union embezzlement charge; Monk’s B95mn cars; Ramadan soldiers turn civil; HK sex slaves saved; Thailand to honor 119yo man

    Phuket Gazette Thailand News: B12bn credit union embezzlement charge; Monk’s B95mn cars; Ramadan soldiers turn civil; HK sex slaves saved; Thailand to honor 119yo man

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Credit Union execs accused of embezzling Bt12 billion The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Mounting evidence that Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative Ltd embezzled nearly Bt12 billion has led the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the Anti Money Laundering Office (AMLO) to launch an investigation into…

  • Phuket NewsCat alerts home owner to 5-meter python house call

    Cat alerts home owner to 5-meter python house call

    PHUKET: A woman was alerted to the presence of a giant snake in the carport of her home in Phuket Town yesterday by her cat. “When I went out to hang my clothes up to dry, I saw my cat staring at something,” said Saisamorn Sungmek. “It was a snake,” she said. Kusoldharm Rescue Foundation workers responded to Mrs Saisamorn’s…

  • Phuket NewsWashing machine fire cleans out Chalong Temple SuperCheap staff room

    Washing machine fire cleans out Chalong Temple SuperCheap staff room

    PHUKET: Two fire trucks rushed to the SuperCheap convenience store located about 30 meters from Phuket’s renowned Wat Chalong temple on Saturday after being notified of a fire there at about 8:30am.“When we arrived at the scene we were confronted by flames coming from a staff room on the third floor of the building,” said Capt Kraisorn Boonprasop of the…

  • Phuket NewsPolice: case of missing Phuket woman romantic, not criminal

    Police: case of missing Phuket woman romantic, not criminal

    PHUKET: Police confirmed today that they do not consider the disappearance of Bunyanee Sungparn, 29 (story here), to be a criminal case. “After her brother reported her missing on July 1, I checked her Facebook page,” said Capt Rattanatorn Bumrungthin of the Thung Thong Police. “I read a conversation between Ms Bunyanee and her brother, Weerawit Sungparn, that mentioned a…

  • FoodPhuket Food: Hurry for a curry

    Phuket Food: Hurry for a curry

    PHUKET: Given that Phuket offers very little in terms of flavors from the sub-continent, we pounced on the opportunity to try out one small Indian restaurant recently discovered by a couple of friends way out in Cape Panwa. Only a stone’s throw away from the city center, Cape Panwa seems like a parallel universe compared to the rest of Phuket.…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Hajj pilgrims line up for free vaccines

    Phuket Hajj pilgrims line up for free vaccines

    PHUKET: More than 200 Muslims planning to make the Hajj this year took advantage of free vaccinations at the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization Hospital on Saturday. “The Provincial Hospital has partnered with the Phuket Public Health Office to offer free meningococcal meningitis and influenza vaccines to people in Phuket and nearby provinces who plan to travel to Mecca for the…

  • Phuket NewsFoul play not suspected in death of Microsoft engineer at Phuket villa

    Foul play not suspected in death of Microsoft engineer at Phuket villa

    PHUKET: Phuket Police see no reason to open a murder investigation in the case of a former Microsoft engineer found dead at his villa at Ao Makham last week (story here). The man, American-born Clifford Nelson Bamford, was found floating in his villa pool by his housekeeper on July 1. “There were no signs of a fight at the scene…

  • Thai LifePhuket’s QSI graduates ready for the world

    Phuket’s QSI graduates ready for the world

    PHUKET: QSI International School Phuket graduated another group of six secondary students recently. The graduation ceremony was held at Centara Karon Resort where 100 guests attended the ceremony, which included several singing and dancing performances by QIS students. After receiving their diplomas, two of the graduating students, Jasmin Jadick and Jakob Klaic gave speeches thanking the school, their teachers and…

  • Phuket NewsMV Hope at Langkawi, four more bodies spotted at sea

    MV Hope at Langkawi, four more bodies spotted at sea

    PHUKET: The Bangladeshi cargo ship MV Hope, which capsized in heavy seas south of Phuket on Thursday night (story here), is expected to arrive at Langkawi, Malaysia, today after being under tow from its position south of Racha Noi Island overnight. The news came as local fishermen reported seeing four bodies in life jackets off Koh Rok, off the coast…

  • Phuket NewsRelatives cry murder, Phuket police disagree

    Relatives cry murder, Phuket police disagree

    PHUKET: Relatives of a woman found dead in her car in an old tin mining pond on Monday believe she was murdered, but police do not agree.Wattana Itthisan, the 27-year-old owner of Fasai Minimart in Chalong, was found in her submerged car in an old tin mining pond behind Chalong Temple on Monday morning.“The driver’s window was open and the…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket man confesses to suffocating “nagging’ mother-in-law

    Phuket man confesses to suffocating “nagging’ mother-in-law

    PHUKET: A man who suffocated his mother-in-law after an argument in Phuket confessed to the killing several hours after the horrific encounter.The body of Prayad Phawaphutanon, 50, was found half-clothed and lying on her bed by her 14-year-old son when he returned from school yesterday evening, said Thalang Police Superintendent Sirisak Wasasiri today.“After finding his mother dead in bed, he…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket chief denies drug payoff, developer extortion claims

    Phuket chief denies drug payoff, developer extortion claims

    PHUKET: Kathu District Chief Veera Kerdsirimongkol has denounced accusations claiming that he accepted cash from drug suspects to overlook test results and that he attempted to extort money from developers by holding their machinery for ransom.Chief Veera flatly denied the allegations: “I have never sought benefits, money or otherwise, to release drug suspects. It’s not true, and all the other…

  • Thailand NewsPhuket Gazette Thailand News; Yingluck dumbs down Thaksin sound bite; Police payout for cell fire; Monks need more proof; Fireworks fatalities spark legal action

    Phuket Gazette Thailand News; Yingluck dumbs down Thaksin sound bite; Police payout for cell fire; Monks need more proof; Fireworks fatalities spark legal action

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH – Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community PM downplays Thaksin audio clip The Nation / Phuket Gazette PHUKET: Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday that Deputy Defence Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapha had spoken to her by phone about the audio clip in which it is alleged he and Thaksin Shinawatra discussed…

  • Phuket NewsAmerican surfer dies in Phuket

    American surfer dies in Phuket

    PHUKET: A 60-year-old American surfing on Phuket’s popular break at Kata Beach died after falling from his board into the water.Mark Carroll arrived in Thailand yesterday and immediately hit Kata’s surf alone after checking into his hotel.“Mr Carroll appeared to have lost consciousness while surfing and fell into the water,” Pichai Wattanawalan of the Karon Police told the Phuket Gazette.The…

  • EntertainmentPhuket’s Airshow and Family Picnic sets the bar with record turnout

    Phuket’s Airshow and Family Picnic sets the bar with record turnout

    PHUKET: The Airshow and Family Picnic held at Phuket’s Air Park over the weekend was a roaring success, with organizers estimating that nearly 7,000 people had attended by the time the two-day event closed last night. Navy League Phuket President Pat James, one of the key organizers, said the event was the largest of its kind ever staged in Southern…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket teenager shot in gang attack

    Phuket teenager shot in gang attack

    PHUKET: A 16-year-old boy from Rawai was shot in the leg four times by a gang of teenagers in a reprisal attack in Phuket Town last night. The teenager, given the pseudonym “Korn” by police, was shot multiple times at the Esso gas station near the busy Slaughterhouse Intersection (map here) at about 9:20pm. “When we arrived at the gas…

  • Phuket NewsSearch for MV Hope Bangladeshi crew called off as salvage efforts begin

    Search for MV Hope Bangladeshi crew called off as salvage efforts begin

    PHUKET: The Royal Thai Navy today called off its search for the remaining missing crewmen of the Bangladeshi cargo ship MV Hope, which capsized in heavy seas south of Phuket on Thursday night (story here). The news comes after the search yesterday failed to locate any more of the missing crewmen, Capt Thammawat Malaisukkarin, Director of the Naval Civil Affairs…

  • Thai LifeTraditions upheld at Baba Yaya wedding – Phuket Lifestyle [VIDEO] | Thaiger

    Traditions upheld at Baba Yaya wedding – Phuket Lifestyle [VIDEO]

    PHUKET: The Peranakan Association and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket along with local government officials organized a mass “Baba Yaya” wedding ceremony recently at the Blue Elephant restaurant in Phuket Town. The event was held to celebrate over 200 years of local traditional weddings in the “Baba Phuket” style, and to promote the island as a wedding and…

  • Thai LifePhuket Lifestyle: Rockin’ Railay!

    Phuket Lifestyle: Rockin’ Railay!

    PHUKET: For travellers looking for an active holiday, both Phuket and Krabi offer many solutions, such as snorkeling trips, scuba diving or kayaking, but many travellers have yet to try an experience that is rapidly gaining in popularity – rock climbing! Krabi and Phang Nga provinces are literally packed with dramatic limestone formations. In the last ten years, spots like…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Police’s 300 boost Bangla red-light security

    Phuket Police’s 300 boost Bangla red-light security

    PHUKET: In a mass show of police strength, more than 300 officers gathered in Phuket’s famed red-light district of Soi Bangla in Patong on Saturday night in the government’s latest campaign to bolster tourist safety on the island.Led by Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut, the officers patrolled the bars with an eye to keeping the peace, on the lookout for any…

  • Thailand NewsPhuket Gazette Thailand News: Four die in police cell fire; American hacked to death over B51; Yingluck declines to step down

    Phuket Gazette Thailand News: Four die in police cell fire; American hacked to death over B51; Yingluck declines to step down

    PHUKET MEDIA WATCH– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community Four detainees die in blaze at Nonthaburi police station The Nation / Phuket GazettePHUKET: Four cellmates jailed for a range of minor offences died yesterday when a police station in Nonthaburi went up in flames and a guard fled with them still locked up.The four men were…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket police move to snare wanted rapist stepfather from Laos

    Phuket police move to snare wanted rapist stepfather from Laos

    PHUKET: Police have requested an arrest warrant for the Laotian man wanted for repeatedly raping and impregnating his 15-year-old handicapped stepdaughter in Phuket. “The stepfather has left the country,” Patong Police Officer Teerasak Boonsaeng told the Phuket Gazette. The 40-year-old man, originally from Laos, has been at large since June 29, when his wife discovered what he had done (story…

  • Phuket NewsGlue-huffing monk on holiday in Phuket also a thief

    Glue-huffing monk on holiday in Phuket also a thief

    PHUKET: A monk who came to Phuket to visit a friend was arrested in Rassada yesterday and charged with sniffing glue and theft. Police were alerted by villagers at about 6pm yesterday that a monk was sniffing glue in a pavilion at Pa Aram Rattanaram Temple, near Mission Hospital (map here). When police arrived at the temple, they found Chaiyasit…

  • OpinionPhuket Opinion: Memories of Mario

    Phuket Opinion: Memories of Mario

    PHUKET: Having grown up in the 1980s and 1990s in a middle-class American suburb, much of my outlook on life was admittedly influenced, if not framed, by an ingenious team of Japanese programmers and script writers.Indeed, the original Nintendo Entertainment System (launched in the US in 1985) provided an invaluable framework for the formation and development of some of the…

  • Thailand NewsPhuket Gazette Queer News: Lucky mutants usher in lottery luck – twice | Thaiger

    Phuket Gazette Queer News: Lucky mutants usher in lottery luck – twice

    PHUKET: Villagers in two provinces at the opposite ends of Thailand are celebrating the births of mutant piglets – after successfully using the lucky freaks to divine winning lottery numbers. The first queer porker was born in a village in the Lamplaimat District in Buriram Province in the Northeast. The animal had five legs, two tongues and fangs sticking out…

  • Phuket NewsMV Hope: Three more survivors rescued, two bodies brought ashore Phuket

    MV Hope: Three more survivors rescued, two bodies brought ashore Phuket

    PHUKET: Three more survivors were plucked from the sea yesterday as the Royal Thai Navy continued its search for the crewmen still missing from the Bangladeshi cargo ship MV Hope, which capsized in heavy seas south of Phuket on Thursday night (story here). The three survivors – named as 2nd Officer Mohammad Mobarak Hossain and Cadets Raeq Fairooz and Mushfiqur…

  • OpinionPhuket Opinion: Refugee runaways – shelters aren’t jails

    Phuket Opinion: Refugee runaways – shelters aren’t jails

    Jiranun Cheamcharoen, 46, from Ratchaburi, received a BA from Thammasat University and an MA from Ramkhamhaeng University. She has been a social worker since 1991 and the director of the Phuket Shelter for Children and Families on Koh Sireh for four years. Here, she talks about the difficulties of housing Rohingya children and what action she took after they ran…

  • Phuket NewsPhuket Sports: Explosions, excitement, errors – F1

    Phuket Sports: Explosions, excitement, errors – F1

    PHUKET: Every man jack in the Green Man, Phuket cheered when Sebastian Vettel’s transmission failed. The race had suddenly become exciting. The Championship was teetering towards interesting. Silverstone re-invigorated the season with exploding tyres and Sebastian Vettel’s gearbox failure. It was certainly not the parade behind Red Bull that I had feared. Kimi Raikkonen was let down by his team’s…

  • Phuket NewsClose encounter of the rugby kind – Phuket Sports

    Close encounter of the rugby kind – Phuket Sports

    PHUKET: In a nail-bitingly close encounter, the Wallabies triumphed in the second Melbourne Test. 16-15. A solitary point between the two teams. A series now level at 1-1. Over two games, a total score of 38- 37. Some match-up! Before the game, Lions captain Sam Warburton had referred to “the biggest game of my life.” After the final whistle, Wallabies…

  • Phuket NewsSea survivor: Bangladeshi cargo shipman recounts ordeal

    Sea survivor: Bangladeshi cargo shipman recounts ordeal

    PHUKET: Crewman Abu Bakar Siddique lies resting in a ward in Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town, recovering from his ordeal of being washed overboard from the cargo ship MV Hope amid heavy seas late Thursday night. The MV Hope was overpowered by rough seas while en route from Penang, Malaysia, to Chittagong, Bangladesh. The ship was about 25 nautical…